Last week I had 6 teachers visit from another school. When we were discussing my program, I showed them my sentence display board and how this board supports the development of a reading wall. A Language Experience reading wall is a wonderful way to support beginning readers. Every Early Years classroom must have a sentence strip board.

Method:

Student’s brainstormed sentences are written using the Early Years Shared Writing strategy. The sentences are written on sentence strips, cut up and placed in the sentence board. When 4 sentences are made, the text becomes a ‘little book’ and the sentences are pasted on large sheets of paper and the board is ready for developing the next text. This becomes the Reading Wall and is read everyday.

Using this strategy quickly builds confidence and helps develop each student’s sight vocabulary. I use this strategy mainly at the beginning of the school year. It is a great strategy to use with all Early Years students and is part of the Language Experience Approach.